The head coach of girls soccer at Tolman High School will appeal the three-game suspension he received in the wake of the fight that marred the final minute of the MetLife Soccer Classic Girls Division IV Championship.

The Rhode Island Interscholastic League Principal’s Committee on Athletics suspended Belmiro Pereira and four of his players Tuesday for their involvement in the bench-clearing fight with players from Woonsocket High School on Nov. 8 at Rhode Island College.

Woonsocket coach Kathleen Fagnant received a similar penalty, and four of her players were suspended. A fifth Woonsocket athlete, not a soccer player, also received a suspension. In addition, Fagnant must take a Fundamentals of Coaching course.

The sanctions were delivered to the school principals on Tuesday morning.

Pereira does not understand why the RIIL is punishing him to the same degree it is penalizing Fagnant, who rushed into the thick of the fray in an effort to pull players apart.

“I don’t think they can justify why I’m getting three games, and the other coach is on the field and pushing players left and right and I’m on the bench,” he said Tuesday. Fagnant did not respond to a voice message left for her on Tuesday.

Pereira did grab one of his reserve players who had left the bench area. A player leaving the bench and a coach failing to control the bench area are causes for suspension, according to RIIL rules. But those rules also excuse a coach who rushes on to the field “to aid the officials in controlling the players when a fight or altercation is taking place.”

Pereira has 14 days to file his appeal with Tom Mezzanotte, executive director of the RIIL. Pereira said he is writing a letter and has consulted with Fred Silva, his principal, and with John Scanlon, Tolman’s director of athletics.

Mezzanotte said that parents can appeal the suspension of their daughters. Penalties ranged from two games for leaving the bench to five games for fighting to one year for a Tolman player, most likely for instigating the incident.

In a statement released Tuesday morning and in a subsequent interview, Mezzanotte refused to disclose the names of the players and their offenses. He did confirm that because the incident occurred during the last game of the season, underclassmen will serve their suspensions at the start of the 2010 soccer season, and seniors will serve theirs at the start of their next sport season. The player suspended for a year is ineligible for any Interscholastic League sport until the end of the 2010 soccer season.

“I think the decision is fair. … the punishment fits the crime,” said the Woonsocket principal, Lourenco Garcia, Ph.D.. His counterpart at Tolman, Fred Silva, declined comment and referred all questions to the Interscholastic League.

Garcia, who played soccer, said he understands that emotions run high in the game but insisted that “fighting is not the solution.”

“I think this is a national problem. Kids mimic what they see on television. They see it as normal behavior,” he said. “We’re trying to educate our kids so they perceive sports as a game and are respectful to each other and that it’s not part of the sports culture to fight.”

Garcia said the extensive media coverage — partly the result of an incident in a women’s collegiate game between New Mexico and Brigham Young and partly from the footage recorded by a Channel 12 (WPRI) videographer — should serve as a wake-up call and that parents must be involved in teaching their children the essence of sportsmanship.

Mezzanotte agreed.

“We hope this sends a message,” he said of the suspensions. “The important thing is these are high-school kids who need to learn from their mistakes, and this is a good opportunity to learn that when you exhibit inappropriate behavior, there are repercussions.”

Fighting is not an epidemic in high school sports in Rhode Island, Mezzanotte said, but when it occurs, the RIIL follows up on the game report submitted by the officials and then takes appropriate measures. In this case, the referee’s report revealed three ejections, so those players received an automatic five-game suspension.

The Principals Committee on Athletics tried to consider the Woonsocket-Tolman case as it would any other, Mezzanotte added, even though it was a championship game and there is that video.

“We didn’t want to say, ‘We have video, so let’s give it to these kids,’  ” he said.

The fight began when two players collided with about a minute to play in Woonsocket’s 5-0 victory. Pushing and shoving ensued, punching started, and both players tumbled to the ground as other players and coaches rushed in. Officials restored order in about 30 seconds and ended the game.

A scuffle in the grandstand between fans of the two teams resulted in the cancellation of the awards ceremony.

Garcia, the Woonsocket principal, identified the Woonsocket players by number. The names coinciding with numbers from the Division IV Championship roster are: 1, junior Ashley Dubois; 2, senior Kristin Cahill, a captain; 13, junior Kayla McMillan, and 23, sophomore Erica Dugas. Garcia said Celine Locksa, an athlete in the bench area but not a soccer player, was also identified and suspended.

Pereira, the Tolman coach, identified the Tolman players by number: 3, Jazmine Almeida, the freshman who left the bench; 5, junior Maria Lopera; 8, senior Kayla Perdomo, a captain, and 13, junior Estefania Duran.

mszostak@projo.com